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Comment by yardie | Hacker News Reader

I started a First Team at our son's school. It was challenging. Raising the money to buy the kits and equipment was the easiest part despite our school board not having anything budgeted to it. Beyond myself, we could not get any of the other parents to commit any time to it. So we struggled and eventually collapsed. The other parents were treating it as a free afterschool program. 20 kids, 3 volunteers (1 parent, 2 teachers) and not a lot of time to teach FLL and programming concepts.

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>>Beyond myself, we could not get any of the other parents to commit any time to it.

Thank you for your efforts. I was thinking of starting a team myself in a couple of years when my children are older, and have seen other fledgling STEM programs struggle with the same issue.

Was the primary issue that parents didn't commit time at home working on the projects, or that the parents didn't commit enough time after-school? I've seen more struggles with the latter issue, and the only solution we are converging on is strictly limiting the number of participants to a more manageable size (e.g. 8-10 kids, starting with 1 grade).

As far as I know First isn't really a take home project thing. The kits were in the school computer lab. So it was strictly after school. At the end of the first year we decided that 10 students would be the limit (5 teams, 2 per) for the upcoming school year. Sadly, the afterschool teacher that was driving it transferred to another site. And, as a volunteer, I can only provide time and mentoring, not leadership.

I am sorry to hear this. I really do not understand why schools and parents don't support this kind of stuff. It teaches them so much more than just robotics. 20 kids seems like a lot. I try to keep my clubs small in order to keep it manageable.

We generated a lot more interest than we anticipated. The first meetup was just 8, and we only had 3 sets (3 teams of 3). But then word spread (robots, computers, LEGOs, cool!) and a lot more started to arrive. It was a new experience for all of us. We are a Title 1 school and didn't want to turn anyone away. Eventually, we settled into a steady group of 12-13 kids, 60:40 boys to girls and 5 teams.

What really sealed our fate was 1 of the teachers transferred, and none of the PTA parents responded to our requests for a volunteer (money, no problem, time, hah!). We felt we couldn't give the kids what they needed and folded it before the new school year.

I'm so envious of other school's First programs. I see photos of the ingenuity of the kids and parent volunteers in the background and just wish we had even a little of that.

I have been considering forming a team but am a little worried about the time commitment for the students and having enough volunteers. Out of curiosity, what made you decide on First Vs. VEX?

The students were in 5th and 6th grade. I made the recommendation because I felt FLL catered to a younger crowd while VEX seems geared to more STEM focused high schools.

This is very disappointing.

I'm wondering if I should reach out to my alma matter and see what they need.

Most of the schools appreciate any help you can give them. They are so neglected by administration and parents they're willing to take whatever they can get, within reason of course.

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